Chapter 4

All the sounds that shouldn't have been there came to a halt with that one blow. Yu Xing's chest heaved violently, and a dizzying sensation spread through his head, causing his vision to go black.

His stamina was already worse than that of an average person, and the series of shocks he had just experienced had left his limbs feeling weak. He was barely managing to hold onto the camera and the wooden stick.

“Ruuu...” The ghost girl's eyes widened, water filling her mouth as if she couldn't believe what had just happened to her.

Taking advantage of her moment of confusion, Yu Xing tried to lean against the door to rest, but the door opened unexpectedly, nearly causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

“Can we go now?” He felt a surge of relief, shook his dazed head, steadied himself, and threw the wooden stick away, running out.

The sound of a trash can being overturned came from behind him. Yu Xing turned to see the ghost girl angrily extending an arm, pressing it against the tiles, and suddenly a large part of her body emerged.

“Big sister, I was wrong!” He hastily apologized, and as he lifted his head, he saw Zhao Yijiu, who had smashed the foggy mirror with his hand, now turning his face.

“This way!” It was unclear what Zhao Yijiu had encountered while Yu Xing was trapped, but a gash had appeared on his cheek, and his mask had been torn off, revealing a stern face with prominent features. He briefly called out to Yu Xing and immediately rushed out, “Stay away from the mirror, run!”

Stay away from the mirror?

How many ghosts are there in this place?

Yu Xing didn't have time to think much and instinctively followed Zhao Yijiu, glancing at the broken mirror along the way.

Due to the long accumulation of dust and his distance from it, he couldn't see clearly, but with his excellent eyesight, Yu Xing vaguely saw an eye peering out from the broken glass...

As the iron door to the narrow corridor opened, the eye in the mirror blinked.

“Nothing to see, nothing to see.” He regretted his curiosity, panting heavily as he left the toilet area. Just then, a strong arm covered his mouth and pulled him into the exhibition room, which had somehow been opened.

“Mmm!” His pupils constricted, and he struggled a couple of times, but a familiar fabric caught his peripheral vision.

Zhao Yijiu gently closed the door with his other hand. Seeing that Yu Xing had stopped struggling and was making “muffled” sounds, he released his grip and whispered, “Crouch down.”

Yu Xing, bewildered, crouched down with Zhao Yijiu. Seeing Zhao Yijiu's ear pressed against the door, listening for any sounds outside, he couldn't help but ask, “Why aren't you running?”

He had just left the toilet and hadn't seen Zhao Yijiu, and the iron door had clearly been opened, so he assumed Zhao Yijiu had already escaped. He even thought it was a wise move to prevent the iron door from closing.

To his surprise, after pulling open the iron door, Zhao Yijiu had returned and chosen the nearest room to the toilet to hide. How bold was that?

His voice was well-controlled, and if Zhao Yijiu hadn't been so close, it would have sounded like the wind. Zhao Yijiu didn't tell him to be quiet but briefly replied, “They will eventually catch up to us. Better to control the line of sight... here they come.”

Yu Xing immediately fell silent, stiff as a stone statue.

The ghost that came out was likely the ghost girl. It took her some time to emerge from the toilet, giving the two of them a chance to choose their next move.

Logically, she would assume they had run down the corridor to the hall and would go after them.

But... what if the ghost's logic was different?

Yu Xing slowly turned his head, remembering the two unobstructed glass windows by the door of the exhibition room.

“Giggle, giggle, giggle...”

After about ten seconds, the ghost girl passed by the door, her laughter clear and determined, not even glancing at the nearby exhibition room.

When the laughter faded away, Yu Xing let out a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to speak, Zhao Yijiu quickly covered his mouth again.

Almost simultaneously, a sound came from outside the exhibition room window, and a shadow appeared. The sound of teeth clattering was particularly noticeable in the silence.

From Yu Xing's perspective, he could see a distorted white face, eyes wide open, peering into the room.

Cold sweat instantly trickled down Yu Xing's forehead, sliding coldly down his neck and into his collar, making him shiver.

Their position wasn't safe. If the ghost girl moved her head slightly, she would almost see them.

Fortunately, she didn't make that crucial move. She seemed to be checking each room, quickly moving to the window of Office 03, which was separated by a corridor, and making another sound.

Yu Xing's eyes widened. When the ghost girl angrily "hmm"ed and opened the half-closed rusty iron door, he signaled Zhao Yijiu to remove his hand.

“I almost died.” He wiped his mouth in disgust, taking deep breaths, while Zhao Yijiu remained calm.

The two stood up. Before Yu Xing could celebrate, his vision went black, and he uncontrollably fell forward—fortunately, Zhao Yijiu caught his arm and helped him stand steady.

“Are you injured?” Zhao Yijiu asked, his tone indifferent.

Yu Xing paused: “No, it's just... anemia.”

“...” Zhao Yijiu found it hard to express his thoughts and chuckled, “Weakling.”

Yu Xing: This... I can't really argue with that.

Then he remembered: “How did you get that wound on your face? Is it serious?”

“After you entered the cubicle, I saw a battery in the sink and went to get it.” Zhao Yijiu touched his wound, drawing a finger of blood, and casually wiped it on his sleeve. “A figure suddenly appeared behind me in the mirror, trying to cover my eyes. I realized it was bad and smashed the mirror, but the figure's nails still scratched my face in the mirror, leaving a mark in reality—shallow, it will stop bleeding soon.”

The ghost encounter was described so casually that Yu Xing almost exclaimed, “Wow.”

Before Yu Xing could ask, Zhao Yijiu continued, “By the way, I noticed something about the pattern of the ghosts' appearances.”

“I noticed that too.” Based on Zhao Yijiu's explanation, Yu Xing combined it with previous events and deduced a pattern. He sighed, “Whenever we touch a battery, the ghosts sense it and come after us.”

The first time, he took a battery from a rat hole, and a ghost hand emerged, grabbing his wrist, which was now bruised.

The second time, Zhao Yijiu took a battery from the desk, causing Yu Xing to be misled by a glass bead, mistaking it for an eyeball.

The third time, while he was using the toilet, Zhao Yijiu touched the battery in the sink, leading both ghosts to find them.

...Thinking about it, he felt quite unlucky.

Why did the ghosts always come after him, no matter who touched the battery? Was it because he was in the ghosts' aesthetic?

This doesn't seem right!

“Right. I got the third battery, and based on this, I dared to enter the exhibition room. As long as we don't touch the battery hidden in the exhibition room, the ghosts won't find us.” From Zhao Yijiu's tone, it was clear he knew his actions had almost cost Yu Xing his life, and his tone softened slightly.

“...So, finding the batteries is a trap?” Yu Xing unconsciously looked down, noticing that his left hand had been tightly gripping the camera out of fear.

It had been nearly half an hour since midnight, and the camera's battery was showing a dangerous red.

Hao Assistant had malicious intentions, tricking them into finding the batteries, which actually gave the ghosts their coordinates?

Looking at the nearly depleted battery, Yu Xing hesitated for a moment but still replaced it with the battery he had picked up from the rat hole.

His intuition told him that although the batteries were directly related to the ghosts, a dead camera would be even worse.

Zhao Yijiu also replaced his battery and said, “Let's go. It's too dangerous here. We should leave as soon as possible.”

He opened the door to the exhibition room and walked out first.

“Hey, wait a moment.” Yu Xing fiddled with the camera, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Taking advantage of the five-minute break in recording, he checked the camera's footage and found a video clip of about ten seconds in addition to the half-hour he had recorded.

Zhao Yijiu, who hadn't heard him, had already walked away. Seeing that there was enough time, Yu Xing directly played the video, and Hao Assistant's plump face filled the screen.

Unlike his usual friendly and polite demeanor, the video showed Hao Assistant in a state of terror, his face covered in blood.

The screen shook, and he seemed to be running, panting and growling into the camera, “The ghost is among the applicants! Don't trust anyone!!”

A shadow appeared behind Hao Assistant, a duplicate of him, but with a standard smile, a backpack, and a knife in hand.

In the video, Hao Assistant, in a panic, took a few steps before being caught by the “thing” behind him. The knife, dripping with blood, was raised high—

Swish—

Something splattered onto the lens.

The video ended.

Yu Xing watched in silence, tilting his head.

Was the real Hao Assistant, the one who gave them the camera, killed by... himself?

Wait, what did he say?

The ghost is among the applicants?

Don't trust anyone?

Like, Zhao Yijiu?

On a whim, Yu Xing looked at the door.

The next moment, his heart tightened. Zhao Yijiu, who should have walked a distance, was standing at the door, looking at him with a gloomy expression.

Yu Xing: “Hehe, you don't say! Just a look, and this guy really looks like a ghost! He walks without a sound, you know?”

Zhao Yijiu stared into his eyes, the blood on his face standing out at such close range: “What were you just looking at?”

Yu Xing: “Hehe, you don't say! I suddenly remembered that I hit the ghost girl in the face with the stick, and the position was just right, just the gender was a bit off...”

The unusually gloomy young man suddenly smiled faintly, a smile so faint it seemed like an illusion:

“Did you... discover something?”

The atmosphere suddenly became dangerous. In the darkness, Yu Xing's bangs were a bit messy, and his expression was obscured as he lowered his head, but no one saw the strange look on his face. He then “happily” raised the camera: “Look, look, look at this! A big discovery!”

Zhao Yijiu was taken aback, leaned in, and Yu Xing replayed the video he had just watched. Instantly, the inharmonious murder became the background music of the dark space.

The camera contained a very direct clue, and no one had thought to check it at the beginning.

If they had seen it earlier, the applicants would have been more cautious and wouldn't have naively thought the abnormal events were part of the company's test.

“...” After watching, Zhao Yijiu glanced at Yu Xing, speechless: “I suddenly don't know whether to call you cowardly or brave.”

“Huh?” Yu Xing looked at him in confusion.

Zhao Yijiu paused for a moment, then sneered: “Aren't you afraid that I might be a ghost and, knowing I've been exposed, kill you?”

“Of course not. I'm afraid logically. Think about it, if a ghost kills me because it's exposed, doesn't that mean the exposure is very detrimental to it?” Yu Xing smiled strangely, his naturally upturned eyes instantly easing the fear and tension in his face, giving Zhao Yijiu a sense of nonchalance, “If that's the case, I should be happy. Even ghosts have something to fear.”

“The real issue is, Hao Assistant said the ghost is among the applicants, but the ghost that killed him looked exactly like him. So, the Hao Assistant who gave us the camera is both a ghost and not an applicant. What is his position?”

“What is the purpose of this test...”

Listening to Yu Xing's analysis, Zhao Yijiu glanced at him, a hint of doubt rising in his mind.

After watching the video, Yu Xing seemed different from the beginning, as if he had instantly become calm... no, Yu Xing had always been relatively calm when not facing a ghost. He needed a different word, but he couldn't think of it.

Right.

It was a sense of dissonance.